Anthony Colandrea is going to enter the transfer portal. The former Virginia quarterback is now planning to leave UNLV after just one college football season.
This announcement comes less than two weeks after he said he was not going anywhere.
Although it is not uncommon for college football players to change their minds, this is the second time in two years that this has happened to the Rebels. Financial opportunity likely played a role in the decision.
Who is Anthony Colandrea?
The Florida-native ranked as the 45th-best quarterback in the recruiting Class of 2023 as a three-star prospect. He had 19 scholarship offers from schools like Kentucky, Troy, Middle Tennessee, Western Kentucky, Buffalo and South Florida but he ultimately ended up at Virginia.
Colandrea took over as the starter for the Cavaliers in week two of the 2023 season and became the first true freshman quarterback to start a home opener for the program since 1997. It was an up-and-down year. The 6-foot-0, 205-pound duel-threat signal-caller completed 62.6% of his passes for nearly 2,000 yards and 13 touchdowns in six games but he also threw nine interceptions and Virginia went 1-5.
Last season was equally as frustrating. Colandrea led the Cavaliers to only five wins and threw 11 interceptions but he showed flashes of greatness as one of the most exciting quarterbacks to watch.
He is often referred to as the ‘Whoopsie Daisy King’ because of his tendency to make chaotic plays that are often successful or disastrous. It was fun to watch him scramble or chuck it deep at Virginia.
And then Colandrea transferred to UNLV.
UNLV lost its quarterback to the transfer portal, again.
Anthony Colandrea ultimately beat out Alex Orji to win the starting job for the Rebels in 2025. He led UNLV to nine wins and came just 17 points short of the Mountain West championship.
Colandrea completed 65.9% of his passes for 3,459 passing and 23 touchdowns with only nine interceptions.
He also ran for 649 yards and 10 touchdowns.
The 21-year-old quarterback was ultimately named as the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year.
Colandrea has one year of eligibility remaining. He said on Dec. 15 that he was choosing not to opt out of the Rebels’ bowl game because he was not going to enter the transfer portal for a second time.
That was a lie.
Something changed over the last 11 days. UNLV lost its starting quarterback to the transfer portal.
This is eerily similar to what happened with Jayden Maiava. The former Mountain West Freshman of the Year said he was not going to enter the transfer portal. And then he transferred to USC.
Anthony Colandrea said he was not going to enter the transfer portal. And now he is going to enter the transfer portal.
I would imagine there is a large financial compensation package involved. An outside suitor likely presented him with an offer that UNLV cannot match that lured him back into the portal and I can’t blame him for chasing the bag. Maybe he’ll announce his return. We’ll see.